My first computer was a ZX81. It lived in my bedroom, hooked up to an inherited TV from my ouma Joey. Everything was CLI. You had to type in BASIC commands just to get a triangle on the screen or maybe a rudimentary game. Saving your work? That meant firing up the cassette tape recorder. Primitive doesn’t even begin to describe it—but it taught me the basics of computing in the rawest sense.
Years later, I migrated to Windows, and I’ve stayed there ever since. Why? Because the graphical interface changed everything. Suddenly, computing wasn’t just commands and keystrokes—it became intuitive, visual, and, importantly, productive.
So now, I wear my badge with pride:
I’m a GUI Cowboy, not a CLI Jockey.
🖥️ The Problem with Being a CLI Jockey
When I look at traditional networking infrastructure today, I’m shocked by how far behind it still is. Many network operators—especially in NOCs—live and breathe the CLI. They’ll proudly ssh into a switch and rattle off commands like a chef reciting a recipe by heart.
But here’s the issue:
CLI is primitive. In fact, most CLI environments on networking gear are less advanced than the ZX81 I started with. They lack:
Historical visibility
Contextual data
Dynamic interpretation
Decent automation
You’re staring at raw output, one command at a time. If something happened 30 minutes ago? Tough luck. The CLI doesn't know. It lives in the now. You want a graph of latency spikes? Packet loss patterns over the last 24 hours? Correlation between link flaps and routing changes?
CLI can’t help you.
📉 CLI Culture = Poor Customer Experience
Let’s not mince words: the over-reliance on CLI in network operations is a direct contributor to bad customer experience.
When engineers work without visuals, context, or correlation, they default to guesswork. They “look around” with ping and traceroute instead of diagnosing with insight. It leads to slower incident resolution, more escalations, and decisions based on hunches, not data.
And let’s be honest: nobody wants to be on a support call while the guy in the background goes, “Give me a sec, I’m grepping through some logs.”
💻 Why GUI Trumps CLI (Every Time)
Here’s why I prefer a GUI, and why modern networking teams should too:
| Feature | CLI | GUI |
| Historical analysis | ❌ None | ✅ Built-in timelines, logs, charts |
| Correlation of events | ❌ Manual (if at all) | ✅ Visual dashboards, smart alerting |
| Ease of training | ❌ Steep learning curve | ✅ Intuitive interfaces |
| Configuration management | ❌ Error-prone | ✅ Templates, validation, rollback options |
| Multitasking & overview | ❌ One command at a time | ✅ Multiple panels, live data, maps |
| Automation support | ❌ Mostly non-existent | ✅ API hooks, orchestration-ready |
The GUI isn’t just about being pretty—it’s about being productive.
🛰️ SD-WAN | Home of the GUI Cowboy
Enter SD-WAN—and not the kind slapped onto a firewall as an afterthought. I mean platforms like Fusion’s SD-WAN, which are designed from the ground up on modern operating systems. These aren’t your grandpa’s routers. These systems:
Have centralised portals with full visibility
Show real-time and historical data side-by-side
Support zero-touch provisioning and template-based config
Offer graphical overlays of the entire network with real-time metrics
It’s a dream for GUI cowboys. No more staring at screenfuls of “show ip route” outputs. You see your network. You understand it. And you can fix it before it breaks—without jumping into twenty terminal windows.
🧠 Wrapping Up
The world has moved on. The tools are better. The expectations are higher. So why are so many network teams still stuck in the CLI?
I’ve been there. From the tape-deck-saving ZX81 to the Windows GUI and beyond. The writing is on the screen: we don’t need to cowboy in the dark anymore.
Give me a modern GUI with intelligence and oversight, any day of the week. I don’t need a terminal to feel in control—I need insight, context, and control. And SD-WAN gives me all that, and more.
So, here’s to being a GUI Cowboy in a world full of CLI Jockeys. The saloon has Wi-Fi now. It’s time to saddle up smart.
